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Victoria Falls
Is Named One Of
The New Seven Wonders Of The
World !

Hi there everyone

Thanks for subscribing to our
newsletter!

Sorry this
months
edition is a bit late. We have
just returned from a 3 week trip
to Vic falls, Hwange and Kariba.
Where we were getting photos,
seeing the tour operators and
their operations so we can keep
our site really up to date. We
had a great trip and will be
posting lots of photos and
stories on the website over the
coming weeks.

Please interact with us by
letting us know, what you would
like to see and also what you
don't like, and of course share
with us any stories you have
that our readers will enjoy -
Its easy
click here and submit your
story.

THE Victoria Falls International
Airport infrastructure has been
maintained in good shape over the
years making it competitive compared
with other airports in the region,
the airport manager, Mr Ephraim
Masawi, has said.
Speaking at commemorations to mark
Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe
(CAAZ) Customer Service Week in the
resort, he said tourists, tour and
adventure operators, had commended
the airport.
“We are the first and last
impression a tourist gets in the
resort town and country at large as
soon as he/she lands here. So we are
happy to note that we have had
little or no complaints concerning
the
infrastructure itself as we have
maintained it over the years,” he
said

Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe
is a member of the London-based
International Customer Service
Organisation and has been
commemorating the week for the past
four years.

Wild Horizons takes over Africa
Travel Company

A Victoria Falls adventure company,
Wild Horizons Tours and Adventure
Company, has taken over the running
of the Africa Travel Company, an
overland trucking firm, from the now
defunct Worldwide Adventure Travel.

Worldwide Adventure Travel closed
its Victoria Falls office and part
of its staff was incorporated into
Wild Horizons. Africa Travel Company
trucks are now being handled by Wild
Horizons putting to rest fears that
ATC business was going to be taken
across to Livingstone in Zambia.

ATC is an overland trucking company
that brings tourists into the
country. The company brings at
least
five truckloads of tourists a week
with each load varying between 16
and 22, creating business for local
tour and adventure companies.

Sources said all bookings from ATC
would now be done by Wild Horizons.
The source added that packages
between WAT and its employees were
agreed by the two parties and that
the employees had been offered
contracts with Wild Horizons.
“All bookings from ATC are now being
done by Wild Horizons. Everybody is
happy that the deal managed to go
through without major complications.
As a result, tourists are still
coming here instead of going to
Zambia if this deal had not gone
through,” said the source.

THE Forestry Commission has started accrediting curio carvers and vendors in Victoria Falls, a move aimed at controlling the harvesting of timber in the forestry area.

The curio industry, which employs more than 1 500 people in the area has not been controlled leading to rampant poaching of timber, resulting in deforestation.

Wood
Poachers are apprehended
in the Zambezi National
park

Speaking in an interview yesterday, the Forestry Commission co-ordinator for Hwange, Mr David Mandongwe, said they wanted timber harvesting to be done in a controllable manner to ensure sustainability of the forests.

He said so far 10 co-operatives at Busy Island, a popular vending area where tourists buy curios in town and at curio stands along the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Highway have been accredited.

Due to the world recession, and
the inability of
our major
donors from previous

years
being able to support us, we
have had difficulty finding the
necessary resources to keep
pumping water to the pans. We
have found ourselves appealing
to anyone and everyone to
support our
cause by donating
whatever they feel they can.
However, if we are to avert a
major disaster this year, and
avoid the deaths of thousands of
animals, there is still great
need for adequate funds to see
us through the next four months.

Our major requirement is for
diesel to run the Lister engines
which are responsible for
driving the mono pumps that
supply water to the pans.
Each engine uses about 500
litres of diesel a month, and
one litre of diesel costs about
USD 1. We try to supply water to
10 pans spread through the
Northern section of Hwange, this
gives an idea of our
requirements. USD 20 will keep
one pump running for 24 hours.
Our five
windmills do a
wonderful job, and we are
exploring ways to go more
"green" and install more eco
friendly systems, but at present
these simply cannot keep up with
the demand for water during the
height of the dry season, and we
are forced to use Lister
engines.

One
of the most amazing birds of the
Victoria falls region is the
rare uraco ( Tauraco
schalowi ). Very similar in
appearance to the Knysa and
Livingstone's Turaco's except
for the long pointed crest. The
Turaco's family of birds were
previously called Louries.

It is remarkable in that its
colour is directly related to
the amount of copper in the
soils in the area. This fruit
eating
birds, was observed by
19th century prospectors -
excess copper is deposited in
the pigment of the feathers,
giving them a purplish tinge,
thus indicating whether there
are reasonable copper deposits
in the surrounding area.
Schalow's Turaco is very
secretive, and the best chance
of seeing one of these birds is
the flash of it's redwings as it
flies between the trees of the
rainforest or by scanning the
many Figs trees on which it
feeds.

Prince Charles

Prince Charles had a
moment
of morbidity when he first
visited the Falls named after
his great-great grandmother.

"How many people have
committed suicide here?" he
asked his hosts.

Statistics on tourist
fatalities are not available,
but it is well known that lots
of local villagers swim and wash
in the river especially on the
Zambian side, every month sadly
a few of these people lose their
footing and get washed over the
edge meeting a rather gruesome
death.

Next months issue promises to
be packed full of exciting
stories and events including the
story of how the 13 years son of
a friend of ours narrowly
escaped from the jaws of a
crocodile last weekend.

Feel free to
contact us with any
questions or queries ideas or
criticisms.

The story is told of a king in Africa who
had a close friend with whom he grew up. The
friend had a habit of looking at every
situation that ever occurred in his life
(positive or negative) and remarking, "This
is good!"

One day the king and his friend were out on
a hunting expedition. The friend would load
and prepare the guns for the king. The
friend had apparently done something wrong
in preparing one of the guns, for after
taking the gun from his friend, the king
fired it and his thumb was blown off.
Examining the situation, the friend remarked
as usual, "This is
good!"

Did you know that male giraffes often engage in
necking, which appears to have various functions.

One of these is combat. Battles can be fatal
although this is rare.

Another function is affectionate and sexual in which
two males will caress and court each other leading
up to mounting and climax.

Male same sex relationships are more frequent than
heterosexual behaviour. In one area 94% of mountings
were of a homosexual nature.

GREAT BOOKS

SAS Survival
Handbook

How to Survive in the Wild, in Any
Climate, on Land or at Sea - by John
"Lofty" Wiseman

This is a new edition of an
international bestseller first published
in 1986. The author, a
professional soldier, served for 26
years in all parts of the world with the
British Army's Special Air Service, and
later became their survival instructor.